Can't get GameEx to start properly

[hamdammage]

GameEx seems to be just what I need for my MAME cabinet, but I'm having trouble just getting it to run. When I start GameEx, I see that splash screen, and then right after, the screen goes black and I hear some sound starting up. Unfortunately, the screen stays black and nothing else happens. There's no more sound but the cursor is still visible and active. Checking the task manager, the application is still running, it's just not doing anything.

I'm using a Pentium 4 Windows XP machine and I've verified the .NET framework 2.0 and DirectX 9c requirements. There's 768 megs of ram and I'm also using an ATI Radeon 9800 video card. Thanks if anybody can help.

[Tom Speirs]

Can you post the log file?

[hamdammage]

Can you post the log file?

Sure, I'll do it when I get home from work.

[hamdammage]

Here's the contents of my log file. Looks pretty mysterious.

22:21:25.0 5/11/2009: GameEx: Version 10.07: Starting Log

22:21:25.1 5/11/2009: Operating System Platform: Win32NT

22:21:25.1 5/11/2009: Operating System Name: Windows XP

22:21:25.1 5/11/2009: Operating System Version: 5.1.2600

22:21:25.1 5/11/2009: Checking for versions of .net Framework installed

22:21:25.1 5/11/2009: .net Framework 2.0 Installed

22:21:25.1 5/11/2009: Intel® Pentium® 4 CPU 3.00GHz, 767MB

22:21:25.1 5/11/2009: 2.99Ghz - 2 Cores or CPU's

22:21:25.2 5/11/2009: Running Randomize()

22:21:25.2 5/11/2009: Loading PlugIns

22:21:25.3 5/11/2009: Checking for applications to Launch On Startup

22:21:25.3 5/11/2009: Running Misc startup tasks

22:21:25.3 5/11/2009: Setting Menu types

22:21:25.3 5/11/2009: Opening Configuration File

22:21:25.3 5/11/2009: Getting Configuration Values

22:21:25.3 5/11/2009: Using Theme: Default - MCE Glossy V3

22:21:25.3 5/11/2009: Checking for alternate Image Directory for Theme: Default - MCE Glossy V3

22:21:25.3 5/11/2009: Using Images from theme: Default - MCE Glossy\MEDIA\

22:21:25.3 5/11/2009: Launching HideOS.exe

22:21:25.3 5/11/2009: Initialising Video/MNG DLL's

22:21:25.4 5/11/2009: GameEx will check for media insertion (may affect performance)

22:21:25.4 5/11/2009: Hiding Taskbar

22:21:25.5 5/11/2009: Is Media Center running?

22:21:25.6 5/11/2009: Checking/Creating LCD Registry values

22:21:25.6 5/11/2009: Check Media Center Exit/Start Mode

22:21:25.6 5/11/2009: Media Center Mode 2

22:21:25.7 5/11/2009: Video previews on. Warning: Only recommended on modern systems

22:21:25.7 5/11/2009: Snap Delay set to: 2

22:21:25.7 5/11/2009: Get other settings

22:21:25.7 5/11/2009: Set: Find emulator artwork on best match basis

22:21:25.7 5/11/2009: Using DirectInput for keyboard input

22:21:25.7 5/11/2009: Start work for Form

22:21:25.7 5/11/2009: Getting Original Screen Size

22:21:25.7 5/11/2009: Opening Database Connection

22:21:29.2 5/11/2009: Initializing Component

22:21:29.3 5/11/2009: Retrieving resolution setting

22:21:29.3 5/11/2009: Initialising Windows Media Player Component

22:21:29.7 5/11/2009: MAME Path is: C:\Emulators\Mame32

22:21:29.7 5/11/2009: MAME EXE file is: Mame32.exe

22:21:29.8 5/11/2009: ROM Paths are: C:\Emulators\Mame32\roms;F:\games\mame\roms

22:21:29.8 5/11/2009: Catver.ini is located at: C:\Program Files\GameEx\DATA\catver.ini

22:21:29.8 5/11/2009: controls.ini is located at: C:\Program Files\GameEx\data\controls.ini

22:21:29.8 5/11/2009: History.dat is located at: C:\Program Files\GameEx\DATA\history.dat

22:21:29.8 5/11/2009: nplayers.ini is located at: C:\Program Files\GameEx\DATA\nplayers.ini

22:21:29.8 5/11/2009: MAMEinfo.dat is located at: C:\Program Files\GameEx\DATA\mameinfo.dat

22:21:29.9 5/11/2009: Loading Controls.ini map file

22:21:29.9 5/11/2009: Snap Path is: C:\Emulators\Mame32\snap

22:21:29.9 5/11/2009: AVI Snap Path is: C:\Emulators\Mame32\avisnap

22:21:29.9 5/11/2009: Flyer Path is: C:\Emulators\Mame32\flyers

22:21:29.9 5/11/2009: Cabinet Path is: C:\Emulators\Mame32\cabinets

22:21:29.9 5/11/2009: Title Path is: C:\Emulators\Mame32\titles

22:21:29.9 5/11/2009: PCB Path: Not Found

22:21:29.9 5/11/2009: Artwork Preview Path: Not Found

22:21:29.9 5/11/2009: Panel Path is: C:\Emulators\Mame32\cpanel

22:21:29.9 5/11/2009: Manual Path: Not Found

22:21:29.9 5/11/2009: Icon Path is: C:\Emulators\Mame32\icons

22:21:29.9 5/11/2009: Marquee Path is: C:\Emulators\Mame32\marquees

22:21:30.0 5/11/2009: Loading Custom Emulators

22:21:30.0 5/11/2009: Loading Emulator 1: Nintendo 64 Games

22:21:30.0 5/11/2009: Loading Emulator 13: Scumm (ScummVM)

22:21:30.2 5/11/2009: Using Version 3 Themes Animations

22:21:30.2 5/11/2009: Using General Font: Trebuchet MS

22:21:30.2 5/11/2009: Using Title Font: Trebuchet MS

22:21:31.5 5/11/2009: Initialising DirectDraw

22:21:31.8 5/11/2009: Creating DirectDraw Device

22:21:31.8 5/11/2009: Using Device: RADEON 9800 PRO (Omega 3.8.291)

22:21:32.1 5/11/2009: 241mb video memory available

22:21:32.1 5/11/2009: Setting Resolution to 1024x768 32 bit color

22:21:32.5 5/11/2009: Creating DirectDraw Surfaces

22:21:32.5 5/11/2009: Creating Primary Surface - Full Screen Mode

22:21:32.6 5/11/2009: Creating Back Buffer

22:21:32.6 5/11/2009: Loading graphic Surfaces

22:21:32.6 5/11/2009: Display is running at: 1024x768 32bit color, 90hz

22:21:32.8 5/11/2009: Creating Surfaces Flags

22:21:32.9 5/11/2009: Creating Surfaces Misc and Dialogs

22:21:33.0 5/11/2009: Creating Surfaces Volume

22:21:33.0 5/11/2009: Creating Surfaces Arrows

22:21:33.2 5/11/2009: Creating Surfaces GameEXlogo Text

22:21:33.2 5/11/2009: Creating Surfaces Toolbar

22:21:33.4 5/11/2009: Creating Surfaces Backgrounds

22:21:36.7 5/11/2009: Creating Surfaces Toolbar Controls

22:21:36.7 5/11/2009: Creating Surfaces GameEx Logo

22:21:36.8 5/11/2009: Creating Surface Unselected

22:21:36.8 5/11/2009: Creating Surfaces Home & Exit

22:21:36.9 5/11/2009: Creating Surfaces Snaps

22:21:36.9 5/11/2009: Creating Surfaces Menu and List Bars

22:21:37.3 5/11/2009: Creating Fonts

22:21:37.3 5/11/2009: Creating Game Font

22:21:37.7 5/11/2009: Creating Game Font Faded

22:21:37.8 5/11/2009: Creating Title Font

22:21:37.8 5/11/2009: Restoring Title Font From Cache

22:21:40.6 5/11/2009: Creating Font Black

22:21:40.8 5/11/2009: Creating Font Black Small

22:21:41.0 5/11/2009: Fonts Created Succesfully

22:21:41.0 5/11/2009: 182mb video memory left available

22:21:41.0 5/11/2009: Creating instance of global keyboard hook

22:21:46.1 5/11/2009: Attempting to load game list

22:21:47.5 5/11/2009: Text/Language: English

22:21:47.5 5/11/2009: Applying Language/Text

22:21:47.6 5/11/2009: Initialising Bass Audio Library

22:21:48.3 5/11/2009: MAME CMD options: -nowindow -joy -skip_gameinfo

22:21:48.3 5/11/2009: Loading last used Game List

22:21:49.3 5/11/2009: Setting Music Volume

22:21:49.3 5/11/2009: Creating DirectSound Device

22:21:49.3 5/11/2009: Trying: Primary Sound Driver

22:21:49.3 5/11/2009: Loading Sound Files

22:21:49.4 5/11/2009: DirectSound Device Created Successfully

22:21:49.4 5/11/2009: Initialising DirectInput for Gamepad support

22:21:49.6 5/11/2009: Unable to create a joystick device

22:21:49.6 5/11/2009: Initialising DirectInput for Keyboard support

22:21:49.7 5/11/2009: Initializing MCE Remote

22:21:49.7 5/11/2009: Playing intro sound file

22:21:49.7 5/11/2009: Initialization OK! Starting GameEx!

22:21:49.7 5/11/2009: Testing Main Loop Once: Processing Frame

22:22:30.7 5/11/2009: Exiting GameEx!

22:22:30.7 5/11/2009: Saving Settings

22:22:30.8 5/11/2009: Disposing Plugins

22:22:30.9 5/11/2009: Closing database connection

22:22:30.9 5/11/2009: Checking for applications to Launch On Exit